


Until we meet again once more

by Lizardbeth



Category: Vampire Diaries (TV)
Genre: F/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2011-12-10
Updated: 2011-12-10
Packaged: 2017-10-27 03:59:17
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Major Character Death
Chapters: 1
Words: 820
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/291392
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Lizardbeth/pseuds/Lizardbeth
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Elena tries to give Stefan one last present as he makes a different choice.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Until we meet again once more

* * *

Elena's phone rings and she grabs it eagerly, only to be disappointed by the unknown number. Not Stefan.

She's not going to answer at first but she notices the out-of-state area code and she has a sudden instinct. "Hello?" Silence. "Hello?" she asks again and then she swallows and asks tentatively, "Stefan?"

There's a faint breathy gasp in reply. And she knows. Her hand tightens around her phone, as if she can reach through it to him, if only she squeezes hard enough. "Stefan! Where are you? Are you okay?"

"I can't-- I can't stop," he confesses hoarsely. "I'm ... sorry; I'm so sorry, Elena... I had to hear your voice one last time...-" She hears the same soul-tearing anguish that nearly destroyed him last time -- he's sober, but that means he knows what he's done.

Panic and horror lurch inside her, seizing her heart in sharp claws. "No! Stefan, come home, please...."

"I have to end this while I can."

"Stefan, please, no," she begs, "We'll figure it out. We'll help you, like we did before."

His laugh is wild and desperate. "You can't help - you can't - and you shouldn't want to."

"I love you, and we can fix it," she declares, and she means it, with all of her heart. She can fix it and she will. "Leave him. Leave and come home. It'll be all right."

There's a pause, and she prays silently that she's reached him, and he'll head home.

His voice is soft and hopeless. "I can't. The vervain wore off. I can barely do this."

She knows what that means. Klaus compelled him. "Tell me where you are. I'll come for you."

"Tell Damon I'm sorry - and not do anything stupid--" He gasps, and she realizes he's in pain, not just desperation and anguish.

She demands, her heart clenching in sudden fear and worry: "Stefan, what's happening?"

"I took off my ring, threw it out the window," he explained haltingly. "Oh god, it hurts, Elena."

She glances out her window at the bright sunlight pouring in, and thought of Stefan standing in it somewhere, burning. He's not _planning_ to kill himself, he's doing it right now. She collapses on her window seat and stares blindly out to the yard and the tall trees. "Stefan - no -"

"I love you, Elena," he manages to say. "But I can't become what he wants. I won't. I thought I could - but I..." an agonized moan interrupts, "I would rather die."

She wants to protest, wants him to fight, wants to find him and bring him home, but she remembers Stefan staked to the ground watching her with tormented eyes in the moonlight. His presence had given her courage and comfort as she faced the inevitable. She wants to give him that.

"I love you," she says, trying to be strong and clear so he can listen and take it into his heart. "I love you, Stefan. From the moment I laid eyes on you, and you brought me back to myself again. You made all this bearable, thinking of you, being with you, nothing else mattered as much. And we'll have the forever that really counts, Stefan. Not an immortal vampire forever, the one afterward where there's nothing but peace and love. I'll find you again and we'll be together. I believe that."

He lets out a breath. Maybe it's her name, maybe 'I love you', maybe goodbye, she can't tell. There's a clatter, as if the phone drops to the floor, but the connection stays open so she keeps talking, hoping he can still hear her voice.

"You are so good, Stefan. And I want you to understand that I know all of you. I know the monster, I saw, but that's not all of you. You try so hard, more than anyone will ever understand, and I love that about you. I miss you so much already; I miss talking to you, miss your arms and your lips, and I miss you winning me giant bears at the carnival because you're a vampire and you cheat --"

Her chuckle turns into a sob, and she discovers there are tears running down the side of her nose and her cheeks. "Don't... leave me..." she whispers, pleading. "Everyone else has left me. Stefan, please."

Her voice fades to silence. She strains to hear a whisper, praying she can hear him one more time. But there's nothing - only her own ragged breaths, sniffs and the slow drip of tears.

Cradling the phone to her face with one hand, she tucks up her feet and closes her eyes. Then she lifts her face to the sun. She wants to hate it for the brutal heat that took him away, but it's soft and warm on her skin, like his touch. Like a kiss goodbye.

If there's one thing she knows -- death is not the end of anything. They'll find each other again.


End file.
